Being an Entrepreneur Primes You For BIG Love, this is why.

Let’s be honest–being an Entrepreneur can be hard work, really hard work. But it can also be incredibly rewarding and fulfilling. When I first started Love Acumen I was filled with excitement, enthusiasm and energy. Much like when you initially fall in love. Picking the colors for my brand was super fun! Thinking of ways I could help solve the problems of my future clients was exciting, so much that at times it kept me up at night. I literally could not sleep from all of the phenomenal ideas my brain was pumping out. I was ready to build this mother. I would not be stopped.

Then as time went on the day to day tasks of being a soloprenuer start to get rote, boring and stressful, much like relationships can become once the initial glow of romance has started to fade. The neglected accounting was evident from the piles of receipts all over my office and littering my purse. The trademark process that was supposed to be no biggie, but ended blowing my annual biz development budget out of the water. And then the brilliant opt-in I designed just happened to be so brilliant is wasn’t compatible with any Word Press plug-in that exists so, it required custom coding. I want to cry, scream this is not fair and throw in the towel. Why was all this happening to my business, to me? It just didn’t seem fair.

But eventually I realized that if this thing was going to succeed it was pretty much up to me to make the best of the bad parts and use what I was experiencing for learning purposes. And if you can apply that approach to your business or personal life, you’ll be set for success.

Love and relationships aren’t that different. In fact, being an Entrepreneur primes people to find and create BIG love. What the hell does that mean, you ask? It means that many of the daily demands of succeeding in business align with those of being in a great relationship. Here are five ways to turn your business acumen to Love Acumen.

Perseverance. To have a profitable business you must be prepared for and able to handle the ups and downs of an unpredictable start-up. Some days or weeks may be super busy with new clients coming in the door ready to buy, and other days/weeks you hear crickets. The key to making it work is sticking with your goal through thick and thin. Developing this capacity makes you well prepared for the roller coaster of creating intimacy in relationships and solving problems when things get difficult. There’s a lot to be said for being able to stay focused on your goal (a profitable biz or a great relationship) when things get uncomfortable or hard (an empty bank account or your first big argument).

Learning from failure. One of the most essential parts of being successful in business is using failure as a stepping stone for learning, which increases your chances of success. This is super useful in dating and relationships, too. From each failed relationship or break up there’s valuable knowledge to be gleaned about yourself, what you want in a partner, relationship, or any combination of those things. Be sure you make the most of each experience, like in your business.

Understanding how to serve others. I’m sure I don’t have to explain the importance of great customer service to anyone in a small business. Great customer service comes from paying attention to your customer’s wants/need, listening to their feedback and tailoring your offerings to something of true value for them. Love is no different. Customer service is a direct parallel to intimacy in a relationship; it should be mutually beneficial.

Establishing healthy boundaries. In business this applies to things like having a contract in place, policies regard cancellations/returns, providing cost estimates or proposals of service and maintaining on-going, open communication. In relationships this means having and sharing clarity of goals (personal and for the relationship), defining your deal-breakers, and being willing to communicate in healthy ways. In both scenarios the purpose is to protect both people involved and clearly spell out expectations, roles and how the collaboration will take place.

Persistence and Consistency. When you’re pitching to your audience, consistency and repetition are key. To create that KLT vibe you’ve got to be present, offering something of value and making your intentions known. Relationships include the same level of diligence. This means being “yourself, your true self and nothing but yourself, so help me God.” J/K But seriously, if you want to be seen as adding value to someone else’s life, do it. Everyday.

So all that blood, sweat and tears you’ve put into creating a business is serving you two-fold! Not only are you building your empire you’re also learning more about relationships than you know. The ability to be flexible, listen to others, put in hard work, and develop patience are all part of love, too. After all, you get out what you put in. So great news: being an Entrepreneur pretty much guarantees you’ll succeed at love. Okay, well almost guarantees you can succeed at love, if you are willing to do all the hard work it takes. Someone once said “anything worth having doesn’t come easy.” This is so true, both personally and professionally.

Is there anything else you would add to this list? What has being an Entrepreneur taught you about romantic relationships or love?